Guarding Red Riding Hood

by Rita Hestand

  "Little feet, big heart, I always say." But after the razing Phil glanced at him seriously. "Hey, I'm sorry you got this detail. I've been there, and it's no fun. But hang in there."

  "Trade you?" Dan offered.

  "I would if I could, but Harry insisted it had to be you this time."

  "Sometimes I feel like a paid babysitter." Dan frowned.

  "I know the feeling. Good luck man."

  "Thanks Phil."

  Daniel scoffed and took off.

  When he worked his mind was totally involved in the case, and not what he was having for dinner, although that thought did pop into his head. Guess he'd get a greasy chili dog somewhere and make do.

  There was a greasy spoon not far, he stopped off and bought him a couple of hot dogs.

  Then he drove across town, to the dumpy part of the city and knew he'd have to ditch the car somewhere. He'd lock it up in a garage and come back for it when he needed it. He'd have to walk some, but that was probably good. Walking afforded him an advantage to checking out the area better.

  They'd been staking out a detail in this area for some time. He didn't have an exact location, so he figured he'd ask around.

  Knowing one old tramp that bought cheap dope, he asked him for a source. The man eyed him, and smiled, a snaggle tooth smile at him. "I don't got nothin' but cheap stuff." The man said.

  "Well, where I can I get the better stuff."

  "You got the money?"

  "Maybe, where?"

  "Down on 23rd, old Watts building, third floor, ask for Moretti or Beaton. It's top grade, best you can buy."

  "Thanks, maybe I'll give you a snort of it."

  The man nodded…and walked off.

  How he had lucked out he wasn't sure. The man was too easy with the info and Dan wasn't sure about this.

  He knew it was dangerous walking around here, but he had no choice. If he wanted to find the girl, he'd have to do some footwork.

  Why would a rich girl sneak off with some slime-bucket like Joe and live in this run down part of the city? Why would she go for a man like Joe Beaton? It made no sense. Or was it a simple case of trying to piss her important father off. That would sure to it. Yeah, he had her figured as a rebel sort.

  He wondered about the Senator too. He must have really wanted his daughter out of this, and Dan couldn't blame him for that. Just the fact that he came down to headquarters and talked to Harry personally impressed Daniel.

  Sometimes he wondered about important people, like politicians. They sure must run their home differently because their kids were always either running away or into something like this.

  She had education, and obviously a healthy bringing up. So what had set her off? Could one man influence her so?

  Man, his protective mode was running high today. He had to admit, more than once he'd fell victim for rescuing the damsel in distress. But this time he was going in as a pro. He'd done this many times and he knew he had to keep things impersonal. The one thing Harry always stresses was not getting involved with witnesses. This time was no exception. He'd never really gotten involved, but the papers were always trying to play that angle up, especially when there was a pretty girl involved.

  Chapter Two

  "My God, I've got to get him out of here, what am I going to do?" Gabby walked a path in the living room wearing it down. Her good intentions had landed her in a world of trouble and she had no idea how she was going to get out of here.

  This time Gabby had really put her foot in it. She'd messed with something that wasn't her concern. She'd never learn. This wasn't her business. She didn't need to get involved. But she had. Teaching in a rough neighborhood, Gabby couldn't help but be concerned for the boy. For a lot of boys as a matter of fact.

  "Tony, where'd your father go this morning?" Gabby asked him as Joe's son came out of his bedroom and headed for the kitchen for something to eat. Typical kid, Tony seemed reluctant to tell her anything right now.

  Tony, a nine-year-old, with black hair and eyes, stared at Gabby strangely. "I don't know. He's said he was going to work. Why, what do you need?"

  "I need to know if he signed those papers I left for him?" She asked him.

  "I don't know. I doubt it. He never signed them before. He doesn't usually tell me stuff like that. But I wouldn't press him if he comes in. Especially if he's in a bad mood. Anything to do with CPS he ignores, and always has. You shouldn't have ever come here."

  "I know that now, but I was worried about you, Tony. If he did sign them, where would they be?" She asked frantically, ignoring his advice.

  "In his room, I guess." Tony shrugged, as he waited for the microwave to heat the leftover coffee. He was playing some game on his phone, and not paying much attention to her. "I didn't think you'd still be here. Dad said he'd let you go as soon as you cooled it about the CPS. But he won't let you go if you don't hush about it. You aren't the first person to threaten the CPS on him."

  "And you believed him?" She queried. "Tony, I haven't cooled it about the CPS. You can't keep living in these conditions. Your welfare is the reason I’m here in the first place. Someone has to care about you Tony, and I do."

  Gabby cringed, it made no sense to her, he didn't have any toys like most kids his age, like a football, or basketball, no, but he had an IPhone, and a television that didn't work half the time. The apartment wasn't grand by any means, but it had all the essentials and everything worked except Tony's television.

  Gabby went into his father's bedroom and looked on the top of the dresser for papers she left for him to sign. It was useless, she decided. He wasn't going to sign those papers.

  She'd been here three weeks and he hadn't signed them and he'd kept her prisoner here, locking the outside door so she was locked in and the windows were nailed shut. Even if she found the papers and he'd signed them, she wasn't going anywhere, and she knew it. But her mind kept working on her goal, to get Tony out of this place. He'd didn't belong here. Gabby was sure Joe was doing something illegal, and she didn't want Tony around it. She'd seen some of the sleezeball characters that came here. Something was definitely going on. She just wasn't sure what, and if she had any brains she wouldn't be finding out.

  She rummaged through a couple of drawers, that's when she spotted it. A drawer full of plastic bags with white powder in it. Her eyes rounded on the bags and she slammed it shut.

  "Lord, what have I got myself into!" She muttered. She had to think. She'd just witnessed a whole drawer full of drugs. How could she have gotten so tangled up with Joe's problem? All she wanted to do was help Tony. If he caught her in here, there was no telling what he might do.

  "He's a drug dealer too?" She shook her head and grimaced. It wasn't enough that he was holding her here against her will, he had to be a drug dealer too. She should have known, but Gabby tended to be a bit naïve. She preferred to think people innocent rather than guilty. Big mistake.

  Gabby didn't want to be here forever. She knew her father was probably frantic. She knew the school board would probably fire her. But what could she do? She was here, she couldn't just walk out the door.

  Tony had been beaten many time, absent from school too many days to count and she was merely trying to find out why and get Tony back on track. However, she knew she had taken this on herself. So she had no one to blame but herself for her predicament. And if she hadn't been so high and mighty about calling the CPS she would probably be home by now.

  And things just kept getting better and better. What next a dead body somewhere? How could she be so blind and such an idiot to come here alone.

  All she wanted to do was help Tony.

  She wanted to take the boy to safety and talk to a counselor to get him back in school. It seemed simple until she met his father, Joe Beaton. Now she knew she was in over her head. She let herself be drawn to the boy and his troubles. But a kid that came to school every day with black and blue marks all over his body, needed some attention and she was here to see he got it. She had wai
ted for the school principle to do something. But nothing was being done. So she took matters into her own hands. She'd never learn to stay out of other people's business.

  "What am I, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes trying to save the world?" She reprimanded herself. "I've gotten myself in a world of trouble here. And there seems no way out of this."

  She had to get out of this room, now, before Joe came back and caught her.

  She walked out, and back into her own room. Already she was thinking it was her room. It was a room, not hers, she corrected.

  She fretted walking back and forth in front of the door and worrying about what she'd just seen.

  Tony knew she went in there. Would he tell on her?

  Almost every day Tony was in school she sent him to the nurse, they did what they could. Called his father and never reached him, and sent him back to class.

  That was no answer. He rode the bus home every day so there was no way anyone could reach the man. That's when Gabby decided to take things into her own hands and go see his father.

  Gabby was only a teacher, but a good one. And she cared about her students. Well now it had gotten her into a heap of trouble and she wasn't at all sure how she'd get out of it. No one but another teacher knew she was here.

  Problem was she had no authority to take Tony anywhere and reasoning with his father about his schooling certainly hadn't worked. His father was never home and when he was, Tony ended up with black and blue marks all over him. She had recognized quickly that Joe Beaton was not someone she could handle.

  She wasn't Nancy Drew, nor Sherlock Holmes, but she knew somehow, she had to get out of here and quickly. And she had to take Tony with her.

  Now she had to think. How could they escape?

  But her mind kept reverting back to Tony's problems and why she had gotten involved in the first place. She was trying to find a way to excuse her actions.

  Tony had been expelled from school several times and his father seemed to care less. It wasn't that he was a bad kid, but he failed to come to school a lot of days.

  But Gabby cared, and come hell or high water she was going to see Tony got his education.

  If no one cared, nothing got done, that was her philosophy. However, for the first time in three weeks, she had to face the reality that she was Joe's prisoner. All her efforts to get Tony away from here, were nil. She hadn't accomplished anything, and she'd probably be dismissed by the school when they found out.

  She'd messed up good this time. And it was only a matter of time before her father got involved.

  She sighed and went back to flop on the worn out couch beside Tony.

  Tony glanced at her, "Did you find the paper?"

  "Uh no, I didn't Tony. And please, don't tell your father I was in his room."

  Tony stared at her, "Why not?"

  "He might be angry. Well I'm sure he'd be angry. And we don't need angry. Know what I mean?"

  "Okay." Tony shrugged again. "I don't like to see him mad any more than you do."

  Her gaze flitted around the room, as though she were looking for something.

  "You can't get out of here. I've tried before myself." Tony explained.

  He kept playing his game but every now and then he glanced at her. "I'm sorry he locked you in."

  She looked at him, and dusted his hair with her hand. "It's not your fault. We've got to get out of here, Tony." She moaned.

  "Dad locks the door so I can't run in the neighborhood. So we can't get out of here, Miss Winslow. That's why I'm not in school half the time. If he's mad, he locks me in. If he's got something going on he locks me in."

  Gabby looked at him strangely. Tony didn't realize he'd become a prisoner too. Or had he? Perhaps he was just adjusting to it better than she.

  She was sitting there hashing things out in her mind, trying to find a solution when suddenly the door burst open, someone had kicked it in. A man stood before them with a gun in his hand.

  The man looked like some kind of wild man, with long sandy brown hair and sunglasses, and a gun in his hand. He looked like another hoodlum. Gabby reached for Tony, to shield him.

  "Who are you and why did you break the door in."

  "It was locked." The man replied simply.

  For some reason Gabby wanted to laugh. That was a super good answer. She stifled the laugh.

  "What do you want?" She demanded to know. "Who are you?"

  He looked at the two of them and around the room. Gabby couldn't help but wonder if this was some thug looking for Tony's father. Was he after the drugs? Would he try and hurt them? All kinds of things ran through her head. But she couldn't dare mention the drugs, she'd be a dead woman fast.

  He left the door open, if they could somehow get by him, they might escape.

  "Is anyone else here?" The man asked glancing around as he shut the door, with his foot.

  Gabby saw the gun first, then the man behind it.

  When she didn't answer, he shot her a glance.

  "We've got to get out of here, fast." The man told her.

  Gabby looked confused, "Who are you, Dirty Harry?" She asked.

  "I thought I was more like James Bond, than Dirty Harry." He twisted his head with disgust. He saw the kid now because she was standing in front of him, shielding him.

  "Who's he?" Daniel asked glancing at the kid.

  "This is Tony. The question is, who are you?" She asked.

  "I'm a cop and you are coming with me," He took her by the arm and pulled her toward him.

  "I will not. How do I know you are a cop?"

  "Lady, I don't have time to argue. And I don't have time nor the inclination to flash my badge. Now get your stuff and let's go."

  She tried to pull loose of his hold on her arm, but he tightened it.

  Thinking about it a moment, she saw a way of getting out of here. She nodded, "Alright, Tony, go get a bag and throw some clothes in it, we're leaving."

  "Oh now, I'm not taking the kid." Daniel shook his head and he lowered his gun. "I came after you, that's all."

  "Oh yes you are or I won't go with you." She spouted bravely.

  "Won't go with me?" He challenged. "Do you see the gun I'm holding? Do you really think you have a choice, lady?" When she didn't respond he tried another tactic. "Look, my assignment was to get you out of here, not the neighborhood." Daniel told her.

  "He isn't the neighborhood. He's coming with us. You'll take him too, or you don't take me." She jerked her arm from him finally and folded them over her chest.

  "Who is he?" The man asked standing up straight and staring at the kid who was ready to go in seconds.

  "He's Tony Beaton, that's who."

  "Joe's kid?" He said as though he just figured it all out.

  "That's right. You know his father?"

  "Not personally, no. Haven't had the pleasure yet. I don't run with his crowd." He studied the situation. "Look, I feel for the kid, but he's not part of this."

  "He's the reason I'm here in the first place and you will take him!" She shouted now, as though she were in command.

  He did a double take of the situation. What was going on here?

  He looked down the hallway, "I don't have time to debate it. All right. We'll take him and turn him over to the authorities."

  "No, he stays with me." She insisted.

  "It's too dangerous." He told her.

  "And I suppose leaving him here alone, isn't?" Her brows nearly met she was so mad.

  "All right lady, alright. Let's go, now!" He told her. "I don't have time to argue, let's get out of here. Move!" He boomed, his anger flashing at her.

  "Come on Tony," she called him from his bedroom. He came out with a backpack and nodded.

  Daniel spotted the IPhone in his hand and grabbed it. "You won't be needing this."

  "Hey…that's mine!" He hollered.

  "Not anymore it isn't." Daniel stashed it in his pocket.

  As they practically ran down the hall of the apartment building, they came out
on the street.

  "Which way?" She asked.

  "This way," He had hold of her with one hand and the kid with the other.

  "Where's your car?"

  "Long ways from here. We'll walk." He told them.

  "What kind of policeman doesn't have a car?" She asked with indignation.

  "An undercover one." He resounded.

  "Oh!" Her lips formed a perfect O.

  "You're a cop?" The kid frowned now, looking skeptically at the man.

  "That's right. You didn't think a gentleman would knock your door in, did you?" Daniel grunted as he kept up a fast pace.

  He knew this whole thing did reek of a James Bond movie more than real life. And someday he'd get a kick out of thinking back on it, but today was not the day.

  ***

  All the time they were moving, he was trying to decide exactly where he was going to take them. And then it hit him. He'd go to the cabin on the lake, they'd be comfortable there and none of these goons he was after would find them there. It was a perfect hiding place. It was remote, no one knew about it and should be safe for the time being at least. Joe's bunch didn't know about him, and it would be some time before they did.

  By the time they reached his car, they were all three out of breath. He knew both of them were skeptical of him and he'd try to put their minds to ease later. First he had to get them to safety. He was playing this one, by the book, except for the kid. The kid was added baggage, but he'd figure out what to do with him later.

  When they got inside the car, she looked directly at him. "Do you know who I am?"

  "Lady," His frustration was mounting. He started the car and backed out of the garage. "That's why I'm here, I know who you are."

  The way he said that had Gabby staring.

  Again there was an "oh". "My father!"

  "Basically, in a nutshell, yeah." He nodded, not looking at her.

  "My dad's gonna be mad, mister." Tony yelled from the backseat.

  "Good, mad people make big mistakes." Dan chuckled.

  "Why you after us, we didn't do nothing." The boy asked.

  "Look, suffice it to say, I'm here to protect you. You my friend," he shot the kid in the backseat a quick glance "Weren't supposed to be here. In fact, I didn't even know you existed."